Chenille tufting machine



May 6, 1941. R H jw 2,241,113

CHENILLE 'IUFTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 5066/8 H Bra owe A TTORNE Y R. H. BRADWELL,

CHENILLE TUFTING MACHINE May 6, 1941.

Filed Nov 1, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M H W M w Md n [MW A B L B Z O 2 Y B .99. ww

' pivoted thereto and to a fixed element.

cutter blade cooperates with the moving finger- Pa tented May ;)1 941 cuss-um: rurrmc MACHINE Robbie n. Brauweu, Dalton, Ga, assignor to Polly Prentiss, Inc., South Carolina Sumter, 0., a corporation of mplication November 1, 1931, Serial no; 172,165"

3 Claims.

My invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to tufting attachments for sewmg machines for making tufted bed spreads, rugs, etc.

Y In the prior art it has been the practice to pass a needle carrying a strand of yarn downwardly through fabric. Then as the needle starts its for an object of his invention the provision of a tufting machine having the ordinary reciprocating needle, feed dogs; and driving shaft, with the addition of a moving finger for'catching the loop and holding it, the finger being pivoted directly .to a supplementary shaft which is driven upward travel, slack is developed in the loop of yarnthrough which a finger or moving'looper having a hook adjacent its end is passed to prevent it from being pulled back up through the fabric, and finally the loop is'severed by a cutting edge.

The cutter generally takes the form of a pivoted blade mounted on the moving finger or looper which passes through and holds the loops.

. The moving finger generally carries a cutter blade The or a cutting edge thereon, and is moved in respouse to the movement of the finger to clip the loops, After these cutter blades have been-used for a short time they become dull, and it is necessary to remove and sharpen them. In such an arrangement it is necessary to dismantle the whole tufting attachment to remove a blade, thereby removing the machine from operation for long periods. The finger and cutter blade are often operated from the feed dog shafts, placing great strains upon them, and often causing them to operate improperly and inefilciently in moving the fabric through the machine. Examples of such machine are disclosed in Boyce 1,963,349, Schmiedel, 2,027,054, Maples 1,963,441, Kalbach 1,832,636 and others.

In many instances the finger slides across the plane of the path of the needles at substantially right angles thereto. This necessitates the use of "lunch more structure than is usually necessary when the finger simply moves man are. The

form construction is disclosed in such patents as' Boyce, supra, and Maples, supra. 1

There has been some attempt in the prior art to correct these defects by separately mounting the cutter from the looper or moving finger. 1

Such a construction is shown in Keeney, 1,855,- 916. .The finger or looper, however," is slotted and receives the cutter which severs the loops.

It will be noted too, that both the cutter and-the looper are operated from th feed dog shafts, placing great strain upon them, and the structure is even more complex than those employing a cutter blade pivoted to the finger. Y

Applicant with a knowledge of all of these defects in and objections to the prior art has from the main shaft of the machine; also a moving cutter mounted on a'second supplemental shaft and which cooperates with the finger to sever the loops.

Applicant has as another object of his invention the substitution of supplemental shafts for operating the finger and cutter whereby to relieve the feed dog shafts of this strain, and permitting them to operate efficiently.

. Applicant has as a further-object of his inven tion the'provision of a very simple and efilcient means for operating the looper finger and cutter by.joining them directly to supplemental reciprocating shafts.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the following specification and accompanying drawings and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the annexed claims. g 1

In the drawings Figure ,1 is a front elevation of my improved machine, partly in section. Figure 2 is a plan view of the bottom of the machine. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1. Figure 4 is a detail of the driving connection for the supplemental shaft. Figure 5 is a detail of the finger 0r looper.

Referring to the drawings in detail, ll designates the usual bed plate of a sewing machine upon which is mounted the usual upright 42 having an arm 2 which terminates in the usual head 43, and carrying the usual reciprocating needle bar 44 in which is mounted the conventional tufting needle 3. The regular horizontal main shaft 4 is journaled in the upright 42 and the head 43 is adapted to be driven through the pulley 45: by the conventional belt or other means.

A portion of the wall of the arm 2 is cut away and a cam carrying collar 6 is secured to shaft 4 by means of a set screw I. The arm 5 is operated by the eccentric carried by the collar i. it having a portion 8, disposed about said. collar, and being held in place by screw 8. The opposite end ofthe arm 5 is pivoted'at ll to a collar liL-which is in turn mounted on asupplemental or drive shaft 20 by means of a screw 32.

The drive shaft 28 which extends substantially the length of the table is mounted beneath the table l0 in standards, 25 by the usual cone end set screws I2, 46. Mounted on the shaft Adjacent the first supplemental shaft 23, and

running substantially parallel thereto, is a second supplemental shaft 21 which is shorter than the first. Shaft 21 is mounted in standards 29, 22 which are secured to the under side of the bed plate III by bolts 23, 33. Set screws I2, 41 have cone shaped ends for mounting supplemental shaft 21 in standards 22, 29.

Mounted on corresponding portions of supple-'- mental shafts 28, 21 are arms 2!, i3 and bridging these arms is a link 20.

Beneath the throat plate and adjacent the reciprocating needle 3 is a cutter blade rigidly secured to supplemental shaft 21 by means of a slotted bolt I! which passes through the shaft and is secured in place by a nut 35. when the nut is loosened the cutter i4 is freely slidable in the slot of the bolt ii, and as the nut 35 is tightened the cutter I4 is pressed tightly against shaft 21 by bolt head [5 to retain it in position.

On either side of the bed plate III and projecting downwardly from the lowersurface are flanges l8, l9. Journaled in flange 23 is oscillating shaft ll driven from the main shaft through a pivotal connection 31 at one end. The opposite end, adjacent the throat plate of the machine, acts to move the feed dogs 38 in one direction through a link 40.

Joumaled in flange 48 is oscillating shaft 38 driven from the main shaft by a pivotal connection 38. The opposite end of the shaft 36 carries the-feed dog 33 and is attached to link 50, operating the feed dogs in one direction.

The supplemental rock shaft 28 is arranged through collar 30 to oscillate shaft 23. Since movingfinger ll is. mounted, on shaft 23 by collar i'l, this oscillation causes the finger 4| to move back and forth acros the plane of the path of the needle 3 in an are. In order to reduce the curvature of the arc, finger 4| is spaced from shaft 28 by means of adjustable extension l6, which may also be employed to vary the length -'of the loops.

As the needle travels further upward the loop is drawn tight about the finger which accommodates more than a single loop. The finger ll then moves back towards its original position and a cutter ll acts to cut some but not all of the loops on the finger. The cutter blade ll moves in a slight arc and cooperates with moving finger H to clip the loops thereon.

As shaft 28 oscillates in response to movement of reciprocating arm 5, it carries with it arm 2| which .acts through link 23 and arm I! to impart an oscillating movement to supplemental shaft 21, causing'it to rotate blade I! into and out of engagement'with finger H to clip the loops of yarn.

When the needle 3 reaches its highest position the finger ll will have begun backward movement out of the plane of the path of the needle, and cutter blade ll will have begun the clipping of a loop on finger II.

The needle'3 again moves downwardlyand the finger ll moves to its extremity away from the plane of the path of the needle as the cutter l4 completes the clipping of a loop thereon.

j As the needle reaches its lower extremity and between the rock shafts II and 3B-of the. work feed means and is driven separately from the same. The looper H is mounted upon thesupt plemental rock shaft 28 to turn therewith, and

the cutter I4 is carried by the second supplemental rock shaft 21. The cranks l3 and 2| and link 20 cause the rock shaft 28 to turn the rock shaft 21 so that these supplemental rock shafts simultaneously turn in the same direction. The cutter II has slidable engagement with the looper I for shearing action therewith. It is thus I seen that the rock shaft 28 and the cutter H are turned counter-clockwise when viewedfrom one side of the looper and clockwise when viewed from the opposite side of the looper.

The operation of the machine is somewhat as follows:

When the shaft [is revolved, the needle bar H and the needle 3 are reciprocated through the throat plate (not shown) in the usual manner. As the needle travels to the bottom of its stroke, it draws a loop of yarn lthrough the fabric, located on the upper surface of table it (not shown) in the usual manner.

As the needle 3 starts its upward travel leaving the fabric which it has pierced, slack is developed in the loop of yarn. At this instant finger 4| moves into the loop and across the plane of travel of the needle, catching the loop as the needle moves upward-and holding it inside the hook. The movement of the finger H is in response to the action of the arm 5. The,

- eccentric carried by collar} rotates with shaft 2 causing arm 5 to reciprocate thereby acting begins to rise, slack is again developed in the loop of yarn formed by the needle and the moving finger again moves out close to the needle 3 and passes through the loop of yarn as the cutter I4 is swung away from the finger.

This process is repeated continuously as the piles are formed.

During this operation the feed dogs operate to move the fabric across the table In in a well known manner which i not believed to be necessaryto describe.

Having thus described my invention, I- claim:

1. In a .tufting machine, a reciprocatory needle to' carry the yarn through the fabric and produce a loop, work feed means, means to actuate .thework feed means, a rock shaft separate from the work feed means, a looper bodily mounted upon the rockshaft to turn therewith for movement toward and from the needle, a

movable cutter mounted independently of the looper and having slidable engagement with the looperv to produce a shearing action therewith, and. means operated by the rock shaft to move the cutter.

2. In a tufting machine, a reciprocatory needle to carry the yam through the fabric and produce a loop, work feed means, means to actuate the work feed means including rock shafts, a supplemental rock shaft separate from the first named rock shafts, a looper bodily mounted upon the supplemental rock shaft to turn therewith and movable toward and from the needle, a second supplemental rock shaft, a cutter mounted upon the second supplemental rock shaftand separately mounted from the looper and having slidable engagement with the looper to produce a shearing action therewith, driving connecting means between the first and second named supplemental rock shafts so that the first named supplemental rock shaft turns the second named supplemental rock shaft in the same di rection with it, and means to operate the first named supplemental rock: -shaft.

3. Ina tufting machine, a 'reciprocatory needle to carry the yarn through the fabric and produce a loop,.work feed means, means to actuate the work feed means including rock shafts, a supplemental rock shaft arrangedbetween the first-named rock shafts, a looper mounted upon the supplemental rock shaft to turn therewith and movable toward andfrom the needle, a pivoted cutter mounted separately from the looper and slidably engaging the looper'for having a shearing action therewith, a crank connected with the pive'ted cutter to move it, a. crank connected with the supplemental rock shaft, a link connecting said cranks, and means to move the supplemental rock shaft.

' ROBBIE H. BRADWELL. 

